Furnace-meter.



W. A. BLONCK.

FURNACE METER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1912. 1,055,255. Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

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W. A. BLONCK.

FURNACE METER.

APPLICATION FILED 11111.29, 1912.

. 1,055,255, Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

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FURNACE METER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.29, 1912.

1,055,255. Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

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DAMPER FURNACE //'/Z7Z 61.55 as ,172 M 77 far:

WILLIAM A. BLONCK, on CHICAGO, I'LLINOIS.

FURNACE-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 29, 1912. Seria1 No. 717,768.

Patented Mar. 4,1913.

To all whom it mag/ concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. BLoNoK,

a citizen of the United States, residing at .Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnace-Meters, of

which the following is a specification.

4 Many forms of furnace efficiency meter 1 have been devised for the purpose of enabling the engineer or fireman to estimate the conditions existing within the furnace and particularly to enable him to determine whether or not such conditions are the best for maximum economy in fuel consum tion, etc. On account of the number of di erent factors which influence the efficiency of a furnace, it has been found very difficult to provide an instrument of simple construction, whose readings can be easily interpreted by anoperator, at the same time providing an instrument which shall be reliable in its operations and shall give a true indication as to the conditions within the furnace.

It has been ascertained that furnace conditions may be determined by a comparison of the pressure or draft existing nace with respect to the conditions of. pres sure between the furnace and the damper. The first mentioned factor is an absolute measure of pressure with respect to the aton, account of the fact that the boiler efiiciency or economy for each set of conditions of load, etc., do ends upon this interrela tionship, it has ierctofore been impossible, as far as I am aware, to provide an instrument; which will show by its instantaneous readings whether or not all of the factors are correct for the maximum economy, and in case they are not correct will give an indication as to the proper changes or read ,jnstment to be made for the 'urpose 0f attain restoring the conditions of maximum in the fureconomy. Because of the fact that there are two pressures to be indicated, namely, the furnace pressure and the difference between the furnace and damper pressures, it follows that two separate measurin devlces must be provided, one for each 0 these factors. In previous instruments of the general class to which this invention relates, it'has been necessary for the fireman or operator to watch the two separate needles or other indicating devices corresponding to these two factors and to attempt, by a comparison of the individual readings thus obtained with an instruction sheet or the like,to readjust the furnace conditions so as to improve the efficiency. The average furnace operate however, not being skilled in the use of me,

ehanical instruments and possibly not understanding the fundamental principles upon whic their operation depends, is unable to intelligently appl the results of such meter indications as t 0 above.

It has been found that for each furnace there are certain constants or characteristics which do not var with the change of load and other conditions of the furnace; such, for example, as the gasresistance between the furnace and the damper. When the above constants, have been determined for any particular furnace, the instrument may be calibrated and points may be determined on the scale which will correspond to the maximum efficiency of the particular installation.

The main object of this invention is to provide a scale for an instrument of the above class which scale can be adjusted ac cording to the particular characteristics of the furnace, so that the onlyburden .upon the fireman or. operator will be that of so adjusting the conditions of draft, etc.,ias to cause the instrument to indicate at the points designated on the scale of the instrument.

Another object of the invention is to mark the scale in such a way that in case the instrument shows that the-conditions are not those for maximum economy, the operator will know in a general way what changes should be made so as to restore the conditions to those of maximumeconomy.

Another object of the invention is to provide an indicating instrument of im roved mechanical construction, and one whic 1 shall have a maximum of sensitiveness, and conserection of the arrows; Fig. 0

air.

quently give the most accurate indications which can be obtained. Nevertheless, the'instrument of the construction herein disclosed is one constructed on sound mechanical principles and is of great simplicity, so that it is extremely durable and well adapted to withstand the class of service and conditions to which it will be subjected. It will be understood that instruments of this class are in general mounted in locations where they are liable to be rapidly deteriorated on" account of dust, grit, etc. For this reason, satisfactory'instruments of this class should be well protected and the instrument herein disclosed is of such design that it can be very easily built, practically dust-proof, all .of its moving parts being well inclosed and protected againstthe access of dust and the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an instrument which can be easily adjusted, so as to accurately indicate and record the furnace conditions, and so that it can be made to record accurately for different scales which it may be found advisable to'adopt. For example, if in some 10- cations, it should be desirable to use a scale, which iswide open in the middle but closed at the ends, the instrument should be adjusted in a different manner from that which would be required if a; scale were being used which was closed in the middle and wide open at the ends. The construction hereindisclo'sed is such that the aforementioned adjustment can, be readily made.

Still a further object is to combine a recording dial or drum with the indicating instrument, so that a continuous record may be preserved showing the variations of furnace conditions over a considerable period of time.

Other objects and uses will appear from a detailed description of the invention which consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a front view of the combined indicating and recording instrument; Fig. 2. shows a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, looking in the dishows a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the' 'direction of the arrows; and Fig. 4

shows a frontview of a modifiedconstruction of instrument.

I willfirst describe the instrument shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and will then describe the modification shown in Fig. 4.

It will beevident from what has been previously stated that the instruments of the presentinvention depend for their operation primarily upon gas pressure Means must, therefore, be provided for indicating these pressures either by the position of a pointer or needle actuated by the pressure, or else needles are secured to shafts 7 and 8 re-- spectively by means of set-screws 9, by means of which set-screws the needles can be adjusted on their respective shafts. The shafts extend into casings 10 and 11 respec-- tively, being journaled at the points 12 where they enter the casings and in screwbearings' 13 at their inner ends. A collar 14 is mounted on each shaft just inside of its corresponding case. By means of screwbearings 13 the shafts are very delicately mounted, and by means of the collars 14 they are held against end play. It will soon be apparent also that the bearing where the shaft 8 enters its casing should be comparatively air-tight. r

Each shaft carries an arcuate tube or shell 15, the same being open at its lower end 16 ticular construction illustrated, these tubes or shells are secured to the segmental dlsks '18 which, in turn, carry the collars 19 which and closed at its upper end 17. In the par- 1 to provide tight joints between the needles and casing. The nipple 23 of the casing .10 leads to the furnace, while the nipple 24 Q of the casing 11 leads to a point in advance of the damper. A curved tube 25 is tapped into each nipple and extends up into the corresponding shell 15, substantially as shown in Fig. 2. These tubes 25 are of such length that they reach into their respective shells at all positions which the latter may occupy, and thus maintain the gas pres re 'within the shells at the same degree as the pressures existing in the furnace and at the damper respectively.

Oil of suitable specific gravity is intro-' duced into the lower portion of each casing and immerses the lower end of each of the shells at all positions of the latter. As soon as the pressure within one of the shells is reduced to a point below that in the space immediately above the oil of the corresponding casing, such oil will be raised r sucked up intothe open end of the corresponding shell, substantially as shown bythedot-ted line in Fig. 2, which oil, by reason of its weight, will create an unbalance tending 'to rotate the shell over in the direction of the arrow, thus simultaneously rotating the corresponding shaft and any devices which may be attached to it. The amount of this rotating tendency will be dependent upon the difference in pressure bet-weenthe interior and exterior of the shell, so that the amount of rotation is a measure of such difference in pressure.

The case 10 has its upper portion opento atmosphere, a perforated plug 26 being tapped into it, allowing atmospheric pressure to be exerted within the casing. On the other hand, the space above the oil within the casing 11 is subjected to furnace pressure, so that the'rotating tendency exerted on;the shaft 8 will be dependent u on the differential or difference between t e furnace pressure and that at the damper. For this purpose a tube 27 leads from the nipple 21 through a notch 28 in the side of the easing 10 and is tapped into the upper portion of the casing 11. A nut or the like 29 on this tube serves to effect a gas-tight joint at the point which leads into the casing 11.

By means of pet-cocks 30 the oil level in each casing may be exactly adjusted, said pet-cocks preferably being placed at the exact oil levels desired. v

It will now be apparent that the needles 5 and 6 will be oscillated back and forth and will occupy instantaneous positions corresponding to the furnace pressure and t0 the differential pressure respectively. Means are provided for indicating the. conditions corresponding to the needle positions. For this purpose, a scale 31 is carried by the forward portion of the instrument, said scale being secured at its upper. and lower ends 32 and 33 respectively. The frame of the instrument is so constructed as to provide angular slots 34 and 35, through which the forward ends of the needles pass. A rib 36 is formed immediately behind each of these slots, the needles being off-set in advance of these ribs, so that, as the observer faces the instrument, the slots seem to be closed by the ribs. In this manner, the appearance of the instrument is improved and the positions of the needles are much more easily observed. The forward ends of the needles carry the pointers 37 and 38 respectively. These are of such width as to overlie the scale 31 and side plates 39 and 40 which are mounted outside. of their re-' spective slots. v

It was previously stated that for each furnace, there exist certain constants, so that the instrument for any givenfurnace should ive certainv indications when the furnace 1s operating under the best conditions. It

into the desired position.

is provided with an arrow or other indicatmg means, which is prominently marked, so as to attract the attention of the operator and which can be seen at a sutficient dis tance from the instrument to enable the operator to make the necessary adjustments with regard to draft, etc., and at the same time watch the instrument and be informed when he has secured the proper adjustments.

The plates 39 and 40 can be slid back and forth with respect to the scale 31 into positions corresponding to the particular furnace. For this purpose, each of these plates is provided with a pin 41 which extends through a slot 42, a thumb-screw or ti g. the corresponding plate to be locked I The amount of adjustment necessary in any caseis relatively small and, therefore, the slots 43 do not have to be of great length. For this reason, it will generally be possible to make the plates 39 and 40 lohg enough so as to completely cover or hide the slotsat all .po- .sitions, this fact being well shown in Fig. 1.

- The plates 39 and 40 with their'markmgs are for the purpose of assisting the operator to secure the proper adjustments of his furnace draft, etc. As a simple means of indicating what change should be made in order to restore each of the noodles with its pointer to the proper position, I have provided markings such as shown on the respective plates, although it'will be understood that any other marks might be used which would serve the same or a similar purpose. In the figures the plus and minus signs have been adopted for indicating that thedrafts aretoo large or too small. For exam 1e, if the pointer 37 stands above the air-p ate 39, it will occupy the re ion'desig- .nated by the minus sign. This w1ll indicate to the operator that the furnace draft is too smal and that he should increase the same inorder to improve the efficiency. Of- ;course, in case the operator were an expert, the difierent characters might be left off of the plates '39 and 40, although as a general proposition their presence would be desirtogetheror wide apart in the middle, I have provided the ad ustment wei hts shown particularly in Figs. 2, and 3. or this purpose, each of the shafts carries the arms 44 and 45 havin the weights 46 and 47 respectively. ach arm can be rotated to .any desired position on its shaft, and then and the like. When desired, a recording instrument 51 may be combined with the aforementioned indicating instrument.

In the arrangement shown, a recording instrument having a rotating dial 52 is provided, the needles 53 and 54 traveling up and down on a radius of such dial according to the movements of their respective needles.

.To accomplish this result, the arms 55 and 56 are secured to the shafts 7 and 8 respectively, links 57 connecting said arms to their respective needles.

.In Fig. 4:, I have shown an indicating instrument of somewhat different form but which nevertheless depends .for its indications upon the same principles as areiused 1n the previous case, and which makes 'use also of sliding plates in conjunction with the fixed scale. In the present case a pair of inclined tubes 58 and 59 are extended 'along the 'face of a fixed scale 6.0. These paratively large, and contain suitable indicating liquid, such as oil. The bell 60 is connected inan. suitable manner with the interior of the urnace, the tube 58 having its free end 62 open to atmosphere. tube, therefore, indicates the pressure in the furnace as compared to atmosphere. The bell 61 is connected to the flue just in advance of the damper, While the free end of the tube 59 communicates by a connection 63 withthe connection leadin to the furnace. Therefore, the tube 59 indlcatesthe differential between the furnace and damper pressures. In this case, the sliding plates 64 and 65 are provided, the same being adjustable by mea s of thumb-screws 66, to the desired position corresponding to the characteristics of the furnace, said plate serving a purpose similar to those of the previously described instrument.

It should be noted that under certain conditions, as in starting up or shutting of each of the inclined tubes. For the purpose of meeting such a possibility, I have i carried the free end of the tube 58 upqa con-.

This

siderable distance in the form of an arm 67 and have likewise provided a vertical portion 68 at the upper portion of the tube 59.

I claim: I y

1. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair of inclosing casings, a shiftable chamber mounted for movement within each casing, one of said casings being open to atmosphere, a connection to the interior of the chamber of said casing, a connection from the interior ofsaid chamber to the other casing, a connection to the interior of the chamber of said last mentioned casing and an indicator. operatively connected "to each of said chambers, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described the combination of an inclosing casing, a shiftable chamber mounted for movement within the same, another shiftable chamber mounted for movement under atmospheric pressure, a common connection to the interior of said last mentioned chamber and to said casing, a connection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber, and an indicator operatively connected to each of said chambers, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of an inclosing casing, a shiftable chamber mounted for movement within the same, another shiftable chamber mounted for movement under atmospheric pressure, a common connection to sald last mentioned chamber and to the interior of the casing, a connection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber, an indicator operatively connected to each of said chambers and a common scale for both of said indicators, substantially as described.

4. In a device. of the class described the combination of an inclosing casing, a chamber mounted for movement within the same, another chamber mounted for movement under atmospheric pressure, a common connection to the interior of said last mentioned chamber and to the casing, aconnection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber, I

an indicator operatively connected to each" of said chambers, a common scale for both of saidindlcators and means for establishing points on said scale corresponding with the correct pressures within the portions of.

another s'hiftable member mounted for movement under atmospheric pressure, 1 a common connection to the interior of the inclosing casing and to the last mentioned shiftable member, a connection to the first mentioned shiftable member, an'indicator I operatively connected to each of said .shift-" able members, a common scale for both of ence in one of sad connections and the ot er of said said indicators, members for establishing the points on said scale corresponding to the correct pressures within the portions of the device under test and means for adjusting said members, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the class described the combination of an inclosing casing, a shiftable chamber mounted for oscillation within the same, another shiftable chamber mounted for oscillation under atmospheric pressure, a common connection to the interior of said last mentioned chamber and to the interior of the inclosing casing, a connection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber, and an indicator operatively connected to each of said chambers, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described the combination of an inclosing casing, a curved chamber mounted for oscillation within the same, another curved chamber mounted for oscillation under atmospheric ressure, a common connection to the interior of said last mentioned chamber and to the interior of the inclosing casing, a connection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber and an indicator operatively connected to each of said chambers, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described the combination of an inclosing casin a curved chamber within-the same mounte for oscillation about a fixed center, another curved chamber mounted for oscillation 7 about a fixed center under atmospheric 7 ressure, a common connection to the interior of said last mentioned chamber and to the interior of the inclosing casing, a connection to the interior of the first mentioned chamber, an indicator operatively connected toteach of said chambers and an. adjustable counterbalance connected to each chamber, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair of indicators, a pair of connections to the same, one of said indicators registering according to the. diiferpressure between atmos heme and .of connections to t indicators registering according to the differential between the pressures of the two connections, a common scale for both of said indicators, members for establishing the points on said scale corresponding to the correct pressures within the portions of the device under test,'and means for adjusting said members relatively with respect to the scale, substantially as described.

10. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair of indicators, a pair of connections to the same, one of said indicators being adapted to register according to the difference between atmospheric and one of said connections and the other of said indicators being adapted to register according to the differential between the pressures of both of said connections, a common surface fixed relatively to said indicators and adjustable members for establishing the points on said surface corresponding to the correct pressures within the portions of the device under test, substantially as described.

11. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair of indicators, a pair e same, one of said indicators being adapted to register according to the difference between the pressure in one of said connections and atmospheric and the otherof said indicators being adapted to in.- dicate the differential of pressures within said connections, a scaled surface fixed relatively with respect to the indicators, membars for establishing points on said surface corresponding to the correct pressures within the portions of the 'device under test, means for adjustin said members relatively with respect to sai scaled surface and symbols on the said members denoting zones of the scaled surface representing an insufficlency and excess of pressure within the portions of the device under test, substantially as described.

WILLIAM A. BLONGK.

Witnesses:

WM. P. Bonn, WALTER HAILTY. 

